Barabar Hills: Where the
Buddhist Emperor Asoka
built caves for the Ajivakas

Although
the Buddha was the greatest
teacher of his time he
was certainly not the
only one. There was Nigantha
Nataputta the founder
of Jainism, Purana Kassapa,
Ajita Kesakambali, Pakudha
Kaccayana and Makkhali
Gosala. This last teacher
founded a school called
the Ajivakas which lasted
for some centuries and
then petered out. For
a review of the doctrines
of these and other teachers
contemporary with the
Buddha see the Samannaphala
Sutta in Walshe's Long
Discourses.

Being a sincere Buddhist
the emperor Asoka was
tolerant of the other
religions in his vast
realm . Proof of this
are the remarkable caves
he had cut on the stark
and rocky Barabar Hills
for the use of Ajivaka
ascetics. The most interesting
of these is the one called
Lomas Rishi Cave. Carved
out of a huge rounded
granite hummock the facade
of this cave is an exact
replica of the wood and
thatch kutis that ancient
ascetics including Buddhist
monks used to live in.
The interior of the cave
is consists of a large
rectangular chamber with
a remarkable glass-like
polish. The whole thing
looks like it has been
cut out of the rock by
a giant laser.

.M. Foster used this cave
as the setting for the
dramatic incident in his
famous novel A Passage
To India. The two other
caves on the hill, Sudama
and Chaupar and the one
on nearby Nagarjuni Hill
cut by Asoka's grandson,
have polished interiors
but plain exteriors. The
Barabar Hills are about
20 kilometres north of
Gaya just off the Gaya-Patna
road. When you are finished
at Bodh Gaya the next
leg of your pilgrimage
is to Rajgir some 80 kilometres
north-east of Gaya with
a stop on the way at Kurkihar.